False Rue Anemone

The False Rue Anemone can be found blooming in early Spring... around March is when I first start seeing them. Although, given that they look like other white wildflowers and given my lack of expertise, I may be misidentifying them!

See also Rue Anemone.

Rue Anemone

I'm not great at this flower ID stuff and there's always a chance I could be mistaken. I think this is a Rue Anemone, which are white or white/lavender or sometimes white/blue wildflowers that blossom in early spring (mid-March to April around here). They have 5-10 petals (sepals, actually, but that's above my pay grade) and are not to be confused with the False Rue Anemone, which is just a tricky little sneak.

Yellow Trout Lily

As I understand it, the Trout Lilies get their name not from the flowers but from the leaves. As you can see, the speckled leaves of the Trout Lily are nearly as beautiful as the leaves. Early spring forests around Indiana and Kentucky (and all over eastern North America) appear to have speckled trout, breaching the woodlands floor. They are called ephemeral plants, so-called because they pop up in early spring (March, around here) and do their blooming all before the trees get their leaves. Once the leaves come out, the Trout Lilies go away until next spring.

See also, White Trout Lily.

White Trout Lily

Also called Dog Tooth Violets, these lovely spring ephemerals are just what you need to see after a long, dreary winter. They are some of the first spring flowers to emerge in this area (shortly after the Cut Leaf Toothworts start showing up). About early to mid-March, you can spot their lovely leaves popping out of the forest floor.  See also the Yellow Trout Lily.

True fact: I've never seen a Trout Lily swim.